


Second Chances

by MahouBunnyBell



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Exploration of codependency, M/M, More gemshipping than tender tbh, Original characters to drive the plot forward, Post Manga, Post canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-19
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-01-10 19:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1163824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MahouBunnyBell/pseuds/MahouBunnyBell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Atem and Yami Bakura are dead. But it's not going to stay that way for long. A new evil is stirring, and old bonds are as strong as ever. </p><p>Basically this is a post-manga fix it fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I'm writing Yugioh fic. I have no real excuse for myself. Feeling nostalgic, I guess. This is a radical rewrite of a fic I wrote in a notebook back in high school! I'm glad my taste has improved so much over time!
> 
> I guess you can say this is my attempt at writing "good" fic for the fandom, since well done stuff for these pairings seems to be few and far between.

The afterlife was different than Atem had expected- though he wasn't entirely sure what he had expected, after his whole stint in modern Japan. It certainly didn’t meet the expectations he had back in Egypt, where he would take everything entombed with him to the next life where he would join the gods.

It wasn’t bad, though. It’s appearance was undefined, but was warm and comforting, like stepping into the sunlight on a beautiful Egyptian day. And almost everyone that Atem had known in life- his original life- was there. Well, more or less.

He suspected that he was only able to see the spirits of those he had some connection to, as since coming to the afterlife he'd only seen people he knew, or at least knew of. There were his old friends, the priests that had held the Sennen Items alongside him. They were around often, and seemed just as they had in life. Then there was his father, and the mother that had died when he was young. And ancient relatives of Atem's seemed to come by from time to time, to meet the relative that had taken so long to come and join them all. They never stayed long, though.

Souls preferred to take their eternal rest with those they had known in life, after all.

That was where Atem's afterlife was atypical. He had his friends and family from the past. But he also had a spattering of people unconnected to that. He'd been able to seek out Yuugi's grandmother once, just to see how she compared to the memories in his former partner's mind. And once he'd come across the soul of Pegasus J Crawford, frolicking joyfully with the soul of his deceased lover.

Pegasus had greeted him cheerily, not holding any grudge against him from their feud in life. After all, his wish had finally been granted.

Atem's wish would be granted eventually too. The light of life didn't last forever, and it would come to an end for Mutou Yuugi and the other friends that Atem had left behind when he'd finally moved on. He just had to wait, and finally he'd see them all again.

That's what he was trying to explain to the spirit he was currently seated beside on the rocky outcrops that bordered the edge of the afterlife, while they stared out over the world of the living. The spirit that was more or less in the same position as him.

Though he didn't really expect the thief- what was left of the thief now that his vengeance had been stopped and he'd been forced to rest- to listen. He'd just felt bad for the spirit. Where Atem had an afterlife full of friends and family, the ancient thief had so little. Very few of those sacrificed at Kul Elna had moved on.

The thief spent all of his time alone, just staring out and watching the life of his former host unfold without him. It was pitiful, really. Atem had to offer a few words of support, even if in life (and a good portion of death) the thief had been his enemy.

“In less than a century they will all by up here with us. Don't forget that, thief. Dwelling on the separation like this is pointless. And pitiful.”

The thief let out a dark laugh, his voice still laced with malice towards the Pharaoh. Even with Zorc's shadow gone, the hatred remained. “You're just as pitiful as me, then. After all, you come here to watch nearly as often as I do.”

Atem really couldn't refute that. He did come here to watch his partner fairly frequently. Because even though he was in a world full of people he cherished, he cherished Yuugi more.

But he could manage to wait. Another century was nothing compared to the three thousand years he'd already been dead. Besides, it wasn't as if anything could be done about it.

“In fact...” continued the thief, “I think you're even more pitiful than me. After all, I don't intend to stick around here and just let my yadunoshi live out his life without me like you seem to be content to do. I'm going to find a way back.”

Atem scoffed at the thief's insane delusion of somehow escaping from the afterlife so that he could go and further inflict himself on Bakura Ryou. It wasn't possible for spirits to just come back to life at will- if it was, who would stay dead? And besides, as pitiful as the thief was, it was definitely better for the world that he wasn't in it. It was much better for Bakura-kun at least, not to have to deal with the company of an ancient lunatic out to kill all his friends and plunge the world into darkness.

Well, presumably there would be a little less darkness plunging going on now, but Atemu was fairly certain the 'killing all his friends' part would still apply. It was just... the thief's hobby or something, he supposed. Thank Ra he couldn’t cause any trouble here.

“There's no way back to that world, Tomb Robber. Just give it up.”

The thief scowled at Atem and resumed looking out over the mortal realm. “There's always a way, Pharaoh. It's just a matter of waiting for the opportunity.”

Atem was glad that opportunity would never come. He hoped.

 

\--------

 

The young man sighed as he pried open yet another crate. It was late, but he had to finish doing inventory of all the new artifacts that had arrived at the Domino Museum that day so that tomorrow the new displays could be set up. There were still quite a few crates of ancient Egyptian relics left to unpack piled up in the museum’s back rooms.

The museum’s owner seemed particularly fond of Egyptian artifacts. He always seemed to be arranging for some exhibit or the other of that nature to be shown. Oh well, it sold.

“What number crate is that, Yuuta?” The professor asked, looking over the clipboard holding the list of everything that they should have received. Yuuta glanced at the number on the box before reading it out.

“Forty-three.”

“Hm. Stone tablet of unknown origin. Seems pretty dull, compared to some of the other things we've unpacked tonight.” The professor peered over his shoulder, peering at the rather small stone tablet on its bedding of shredded paper. It really was a little out of place, amongst the golden treasures and ancient relics they had been unpacking all night.

“Well, I guess we need the plain stuff to make the fancy items stand out a little more.” The young man chuckled and knelt to look more closely at the tablet. The engravings were intricate, and he could make out hieroglyphics spelling out something about returning from the dead for something. That was a little creepy. “I wonder what this tablet was for...”

“We'll have to ask Iida-san if he has any ideas tomorrow. He's the expert, after all.” The professor replied, offering Yuuta a smile. “Anyhow, item accounted for. Let's get the crate sealed back u-”

He was cut off by a gust of wind blowing through the room. A stack of Iida-san’s papers flew off a nearby desk, scattering around the room. The lights flickered as one lone photograph landed in the box, right on top of the stone tablet.

Not as bad as it could have been, really. Yuuta snatched the photograph of Iida-san and his family off of the artifact and set about gathering up the papers that had been blown around. The professor, meanwhile, searched for where the wind had come from.

In the end, he found nothing. He supposed the old building was just getting drafty.

 

\--------

 

When the lightning began Yuugi looked up from the business textbook he'd been studying, peering out the window with curiosity. Was it supposed to storm tonight? He'd been pretty sure that the weather report had called for clear skies.

Well, the weather report hadn't been entirely wrong. The skies were clear—Yuugi could see the stars twinkling between the increasingly violent flashes of lightening. It wasn't raining. Maybe it was just some kind of freak electrical storm.

“Yuugi!? Are you still awake? Look at the lightning!” Yuugi's mother called from down the hall, making the college student jump. He hadn't realized his mother wasn't already in bed.

“Yeah, Mom, I was just watching it!” He called back in response, turning towards his bedroom door just in time for his mother to look in on him.

“Try not to stay up too late, Yuugi. You need your rest. I wouldn't want you to start talking to yourself again.” It had been four years, and his mother still wouldn't stop mentioning that. Yuugi couldn't blame her, though. He'd never tried to explain the spirit of the Sennen Puzzle to his mom—he knew that telling her would have just convinced her that he was even crazier.

It wasn’t like it mattered, anyway. He wouldn’t be talking to himself ever again. His other self had moved on to the afterlife. He wouldn’t be returning.

Yuugi fought off the familiar spell of intense grief that flooded him when he remembered the friend that was no longer with him. Time really didn’t do much to make it easier.

“Don't worry, Mom. I'll sleep soon. You should get some rest too.”

\------

 

Atem blinked as the hazy film that separated the afterlife from the world of the living seemed to, well, wrinkle. He'd never seen anything like that happen before.

“What in Ra's name is that?” He muttered, looking over towards the thief to see if he might have some sort of insight into what was happening. The other spirit looked just as surprised as he was, though. Well, he supposed that meant he could scratch 'evil plot by the thief' off his list of explanations for what was going on.

The veil between the worlds sparked with color and life, stretching and warping further as the phenomenon continued. The thief rose and moved towards the barrier.

“Hey! Where are you going, thief? That could be dangerous!” Atem was up in a flash, following after the thief. Something was going on, and the thief couldn’t be left alone.

The thief rolled his eyes. “Dangerous? What, do you think we might die again or something?”

Atem had to reluctantly admit that the thief had a point. Though there were things other than death to be afraid of.

As the two of them moved closer the film seemed to reach its breaking point; an opening suddenly ripped its way into existence. Atem's eyes widened, as the spirit of the Sennen Ring first gaped and then slowly allowed a smirk to crawl across his features.

“No way back to that world, eh, Pharaoh?”

“You can't possibly be thinking of-”

“It's not like I have anything to lose.” The thief replied with a smirk, making a dash for the opening while calling his last words over his shoulder. “Maybe I'll be nice and send your precious partner to see you once I get back to the land of the living!”

Those words were all it took. Atem didn't even think twice about diving into the void after him. Even if this ended up ripping his soul to shreds he couldn’t take the risk that the thief would be able to make his way back to the world of the living.


	2. Nudity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Atem and Yami Bakura are back from the dead. Unfortunately, their pants are not.

Yami Bakura's first thought when he came to was that maybe, just maybe, diving blindly out of the afterlife hadn't been the brightest idea. He felt like crap. His entire body ached, like he had fallen from someplace high, and-

Wait. His body? He had a body?

The thief forced his eyes open, ignoring the stabbing pain that greeted him as he did so. The lights hurt, damn it! But after a few moments things seemed to grow more focused, and he was able to figure out where he was.

He was in a filthy alleyway, laying on his stomach beside some trash cans. A few small lights were illuminating the area, but just barely enough for him to make out the words 'property of the city of Domino' stamped on the trash cans. That was a comfort, at least he had landed in the right place.

And... there was something on top of him.

He craned his head around to see what it was, nearly having a heart attack when it registered. There on top of him was the blasted Pharaoh, still out cold.

And they were both completely naked. Apparently their new bodies hadn't come with clothing.

Making a face, the former spirit of the ring dumped the nude pharaoh off of himself and awkwardly pulled himself to his new feet. The pain was subsiding a bit now, and it wasn't as if he could stay in the alley in a naked pile with his arch-nemesis.

Speaking of which... the thief wondered if maybe he should just kill (re-kill?) the Pharaoh now, while he was out cold. He looked over at the other man's prone form, and frowned as he came to the decision that no, even if it would be endless fun he probably shouldn't murder anyone until he'd actually come up with a concrete plan of what he was going to do now that he'd made it back to the land of the living.

Huh, plan... Well, finding his yadunoshi was probably a good place to start. And finding (Okay, stealing) a pair of pants. Back in ancient Egypt nobody cared too much about people running around naked, but the modern world seemed to be extremely bothered by it.

That gave him an idea. He turned and looked at the unconscious Pharaoh with a smirk. He might not kill the man right now, but he certainly could humiliate him. Leaning over he set about positioning Atem spread-eagle on the ground, where he was in clear view of the street intersecting the alley.

He was cut short by the feeling he was being watched, and spun around to see a tall, fairly attractive man step out of the shadows. He had dark skin, and wore a suit. He also didn't seem at all phased by the fact that there were two naked men in the filthy alley. That was the part that led the thief to believe the stranger was somehow involved in whatever had happened that let him escape the afterlife.

The thief scowled at the strange man. He wasn't sure what he was up to, but it would probably be best if he was on his guard while he figured it out.

“You looking at something?”

The man smirked. “I'm just surprised. I didn't expect anyone to follow me out.”

“I wasn't following you. I saw a chance and I took it.” Yami Bakura narrowed his eyes. He'd only just met this man and he already didn't like him. Still, even people he disliked could be of use. Like Marik had been.

“I see, I see. And the other one?” The man seemed as calm and self-assured as ever.

“He was trying to stop me.”

“Well, that didn't work out so well for him. After all, you made it through.” The man looked from Atem to the thief, smirk remaining on his face. “Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Abasi.”

“And I don't care.” Yami Bakura replied. “We may have fallen out of the same hole, but that doesn't mean I have any reason to buddy up with you.” He paused. “And if you're up to no good you really don't want to talk to sleepyhead over there.”

The man in the suit- Abasi- chuckled. “You're right, you're right. But if you change your mind don't hesitate to look me up. I'll be around, Mister... I don't believe I caught your name?”

“You can call me Bakura.” He might not share a body with the boy any longer, but he'd grown attached to the name. And so he was doing what he did best- stealing it for himself.

“Well then, I'll be seeing you... Bakura.” Abasi turned and headed off, vanishing back into the early morning shadows as easily as he had come.

Yami Bakura scowled after him. Yeah, he still didn't like the guy. And he had no doubt at this point that he was up to no good. Still... he could be useful, eventually.

With a smirk the thief took off himself, intent on finding his yadunoshi and some pants. When he'd done that he could decide exactly what course of action he should take next.

-

It was a girlish yelp that finally woke Atem up. Followed by somebody with a very feminine voice murmuring the words 'oh my', and the sensation of something prodding his feet.

“Oh thank goodness. He's not dead!”

“Just NAKED!”

Atem let out a moan and cracked open his eyes to see what was going on. The first thing that greeted him was the form of a young woman standing over him, looking concerned. She must have been one of the people he heard talking. And the naked person?

Good Ra. HE was the naked person. Atem wasted no time in groping around himself for something to cover his manhood with. In the end he settled on a discarded tabloid with the headline 'KAIBA SETO'S SECRET BOYFRIEND! WE REVEAL ALL!' printed across it in bold letters.

It wasn't the most dignified option, but it was that or a banana peel.

“Bad hangover?” She asked, clearly holding back a laugh. Behind her a younger girl with feathery hair was very pointedly not looking at him. She was wearing the same uniform Anzu used to wear- the Domino High uniform. Did that mean he was back in the land of the living?

Oh no!? Where was that blasted thief!?

Apparently he actually spoke that last bit, as the woman watching him tipped her head to the side. “What? Someone stole your clothes? Were you mugged or something!?”

“Um... Yeah.” Atem lied, not sure how else to explain his nudity without making himself look completely crazy. “Have you seen the thief? White hair, a little psychotic looking-”

“Oh, he's probably long gone. In case you haven't noticed, you've been out here pretty much all night.” The woman glanced over her shoulder at the high school girl that was making a point of looking everywhere but at Atem. “Hey, Chisa! You have any spare clothes in your backpack?”

“Well, I have some gym shorts he could wear, I guess...” The girl opened her bag and pulled out a pair of shorts, inching closer to Atem and handing them over the best she could without actually looking at the naked man.

Well, that was better than nothing.

“Thank you. I'll be sure to return them once I acquire something else to wear.” Atem promised, feeling bad for making this girl so uncomfortable.

The girl shook her head emphatically, not wanting the shorts back after they'd been worn by some naked man in a filthy alley. “That's okay.”

“You can borrow my cell phone if you want to call someone.” The older of the girls offered as she averted her eyes to let Atem pull on the shorts. Atem was rather grateful for that.

“That's... a good idea. But first, do you know the exact location of where we are?” Calling his partner and begging him to bring him man clothes would work better with that little bit of information.

“Sure. You're right across from Domino park, off of Second street. By the ramen shop.” The woman replied, looking back to Atem in his tight fitting shorts and doing her best not to laugh. She apparently decided that the best way to do this was to look away, back to the other girl. “Chisa, you really ought to get going to school. Have a good day, okay?”

“Okay, sis.” The girl replied, before finally looking to Atem. Now that he wasn't technically naked she didn't seem quite so put off by him. “Try not to get mugged again, Mister!”

“Um, sure. Thank you for your help.” Atem decided he should have though more over his story as to why he was naked. Having people believing he'd go around getting mugged (and having his clothes stolen, at that!) was a little insulting.

Still, it was nice of the girls to help him.

“Anyway, see you later!” The girl chirped as she turned and resumed her trek towards school. Her older sister seemed to calm down enough to look back to Atem without laughing, so that she could hand over her phone.

Taking the phone Atem dialed the number for Yuugi's house. He was so glad he still remembered it.

-

Yuugi was in the middle of eating breakfast when the phone started to ring. Curious, he turned his head to look at the device, toast still hanging out of his mouth.

They didn't usually get calls this early. He hoped there hadn't been some kind of emergency.

“What time did you say you'd be home from class today, again?” Yuugi's grandfather interrupted his thoughts while his mother went to go answer the ringing phone.

“Oh, probably around four, Grandpa! I don't have any classes until noon.” Yuugi replied happily. “Why? Do you need me to help out at the store?”

“Oh no, no. A friend of mine is just visiting today, and I was hoping that my wonderful grandson would be around to meet him.” Sugoroku replied. “He has a daughter your age, you know. I hear she's very pretty-”

So THAT was what this was all about. Yuugi tuned his grandfather out. He knew that grandpa was only worried that he was lonely, but he really just wasn't interested. He hadn't had much interest in girls, apart from the crush on Anzu that never seemed to go anywhere and never would, especially now that his friend was off chasing her dreams in America.

Besides, if Yuugi had to choose someone to fill his loneliness Anzu wouldn't be his first choice.

“-gi. Hey, Yuugi!” Grandpa's voice pulled Yuugi out of his thoughts.

“Sorry Grandpa! I just spaced out for a minute there.” Yuugi apologized, looking embarrassed. His grandfather just laughed.

“Well, your mom was trying to tell you that the phone was for you! Could it be a girl?” His grandfather teased. Yuugi blushed and ran over to take the phone from his mom.

“Mutou Yuugi speaking.” He politely offered up into the headset. There was a sigh of relief on the other line.

“Aibou! I need you to bring me some pants!”

Yuugi blinked. The voice was familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. All he could put a finger on right now was that this call was more than a little strange.

“Who is this?”

The voice on the other line brimmed with pride. “Don't you recognize my voice, Aibou!? It's me! Atem!”

“ATEM?” Yuugi said it loud enough that both his mother and grandfather looked over from the table with concern. Then he reminded himself that his other soul was dead. Gone. And certainly not on the other line, asking him for pants. “No, really! Who is this? Is this you, Jou? It's not funny!”

“No! It's me, I swear! Just... just come to the alley beside Dice Ramen! Please! And bring a set of clothes I can change into!” The voice pleaded. Yuugi frowned.

Well, whoever it was calling him, they did seem to need his help. And if it WAS Atem... well, he supposed stranger things had happened to him than people coming back to life. He wasn't going to get his hopes up, but he might as well look into this.

“Okay. I'm on my way.”

He wasn't, however, going to go alone. Once the other line went dead he hung up the phone, before picking it back up and dialing another number.

“Hey, Jounouchi? Are you free right now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More chapters will be posted in time, despite the fact that it's been so long since I've updated. I just need feedback and people cheering me on to manage it!


	3. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people appreciate their other halves returning more than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took half a decade, but here we are! Chapter three! And this time I AM going to finish this story. I have to, god damn it!
> 
> Many thanks to my new beta- you did a fantastic job. Please continue assisting me in the future!!!

Jounouchi wasted no time coming to Yuugi’s aid. That was what friends were for, and all that. Also, all he'd been doing was trying to find a way to avoid studying for an upcoming test... so it was killing two birds with one stone, really.

Plus some random person calling up and pretending to be Atem was the most excitement that the group had come across in recent years. Everything just seemed a lot less thrilling after the whole ‘shadow games to determine the fate of the world’ thing. Not that it was really bad, per se. Sometimes not having to worry about being killed was nice.

“So, this guy calls out of the blue pretending to be Atem? I can see how you’d be suspicious.” Jounouchi went over the situation with Yuugi as they walked towards the designated meeting place with the requested set of clothing.

Jounouchi thought that this was an odd choice for a setup. What did this stranger want? To steal Yuugi’s clothes? There had to be a better way.

“Yeah. He even sounded like Atem. I mean, I know that it can’t possibly be him, but...” Yuugi's trailed off nervously, unsure of what to think. “The dead can’t come back, right?”

“Well, you are proof that the dead don’t always move on. But we SAW Atem move on.” Jounouchi pointed out. Still, weirder things had happened lately than an ancient pharaoh returning to life. “Just don’t get your hopes up, okay? This would be a lousy thing to get depressed over.”

“I’m fine, Jounouchi. I know this is probably just a prank someone is pulling.” Yuugi's smiled at his friend. It was nice of Jounouchi to worry, but he was fine. The caller had just prodded at some old wounds, so it was natural for him to be a little shaken.

The two college students turned the corner, looking down the street warily for any sign of the person who had called Yuugi.

“So where did this guy say to meet him?”

“The alley beside Dice Ramen. We’re... probably about to get mugged, aren’t we?”

“Maybe someone is going to challenge you to a duel? Did you bring your deck?”

“This is a weird way to challenge someone to a duel...”

The two boys continued their subdued conversation as they made their way down the street to the alley and peered down it warily. The unmistakeable red eyes of the ancient pharaoh stared back at them, exactly as he had appeared in the memory world, save for his clothes. He seemed to be wearing a pair of... girl’s bloomers? The kind Anzu used to wear in gym class.

“Holy shit, man! What are you wearing!?” Jounouchi was too thrown off by Atem’s attire to even be shocked by the fact that his dead friend was in a random Domino alleyway to begin with.

Yuugi’s reaction was much more enthusiastic. He let out a sound that was almost a sob and threw himself at the friend whom he had been missing so acutely these past four years. Pale arms wrapped tightly around tanned skin, strange attire be damned. Yuugi had missed this man.

Atem smiled and hugged Yuugi. “Aibou. It’s good to see you.”

-

Mornings for Bakura Ryou didn't vary much. He always followed a very set schedule. His alarm went off at six am. From that point he would get up, shower, and then make himself a quick breakfast before heading out to either his part time job at the bookstore or his courses at the University. Sundays he would allow himself to sleep in, but even then his alarm would go off before he ignored it to continue sleeping.

Today was a Tuesday. So when Ryou awoke to find that his clock read nine twenty-three in the morning he was understandably thrown for a loop.

His state of panic only worsened as he registered that the contents his entire dresser had been overturned onto his bedroom floor. Someone had ransacked the place as he slept, and judging by the sounds coming from the living room they were still in his apartment.

Had he not locked the door properly last night? He could almost hear the spirit of the ring in his head, mocking him for his carelessness, though he knew at this point that the voice in his head was thankfully only his overactive imagination. It was just… adjusting could be difficult, even if the change was one that had greatly improved his quality of life.

Anyway... what should he do about the fact that there was an intruder in his home?!

The white haired young man pulled himself off the bed as quietly as possible, scanning the room to assess the situation. Only his drawers seemed to have been ransacked. His desk and other personal items were blissfully untouched. The photo of Amane and his mother still hung on the wall, his tabletop figures remained undisturbed in their display case.

It was like the intruder had been looking for something specific. But what on Earth could it be?!

Well, there was only one way to find out. Ryou gathered up his courage and edged towards the bedroom door, nudging it open as quietly as possible to peer out into the rest of the apartment.

He was greeted by the sight of a strangely familiar looking man with white hair and deeply tanned skin. Said man was hunched over his kitchen table, devouring last night's leftover yakitori.

He was also wearing the leather pants that the spirit of the ring had 'obtained’ back in the day. The pants were noticeably tighter on this man’s frame than they had been on Ryou's body, though.

The man met Ryou’s gaze as if his presence was totally expected, hungrily shoveling more food into his mouth even as he spoke.

“Finally awake, yadonoshi?”

The words made it perfectly clear to Ryou who this man was, and he swallowed thickly before stepping out from the bedroom. There was so much he wanted to ask. How!? WHY!? Hadn't he suffered enough? Was four years of peace too much for him?

He couldn't find the words. All he could do was open and close his mouth a few times as he tried to will himself to say something.

“You… came back.”

The thief king smirked. A chill ran down Ryou's spine.

“Haven't you realized? I always do.”

It was the truth. No matter what he did, the thief would always return to Bakura Ryou’s side. It was like fate. A twisted mockery of fate that was determined to make Ryou miserable and try to murder all of his friends.

Ryou shook his head.

“I'm not even going to ask you how you managed to get back here. Did you steal that body?”

For what it was worth, the dark Bakura had the decency to look a little offended at that, even as he crammed another bite into his mouth. “This good looking body is my own flesh and blood. You should be honored. I went and found a way back to the realm of the living just so I could keep your pathetic ass company.”

“Well, I suppose that's as close to good intentions as you get. But I assure you that I'm not lonely, so you can go back to being dead?” Ryou suggested, wincing at the spirit’s appalling table manners.

The darker man laughed.

“Don't lie. I've been watching you from up there. You're as mopey as ever when you aren't with your dork squad.” The thief held a skewer of chicken out for Ryou, coaxing him over to the table.

Ryou sighed and moved to sit and take the food.

“I’m living a normal life. I'm happy with that.”

“Normal is too mundane for my host. Besides, being dead was boring as hell. This way we both can benefit.”

Ryou raised an eyebrow. He wouldn't really say that he benefited from this situation at all. But he also wasn't delusional. He knew that he wasn't going to get a choice on this. The best he could hope to do would be to keep the other Bakura away from his friends. “So you intend to live here now?”

“Of course. What's yours is mine, yadonoshi. Don't worry, I won't disturb your boring life that much. As long as you do what I say.”

Ryou winced internally, but nodded.

Why did these things always happen to him?

-

Yuugi was thrilled with the fact that Atem was back. This fact was made very clear by how Yuugi had spent a good minute embracing his 'other self’ before finally letting go (Jounouchi had coaxed him to do so) to offer Atem the clothes and demand to know how he had ended up back in the land the of the living.

Atem had offered a brief account of how he got there (“I chased the thief”) and eagerly put on actual clothing. And that brought them to where they were now- standing on the sidewalk, excitedly discussing the situation.

“I can't believe you're really here! It feels so surreal!” Yuugi was all smiles as he gushed at his ancient friend.

Atem was all smiles himself.

“I'll admit, I don't mind this development either. Though… I should probably spend less time celebrating and more time trying to determine exactly how this is possible in the first place.”

Jounouchi nodded in agreement. “Yeeeeah, people coming back from the dead sounds like bad news. I mean, not YOU, but ya said the other Bakura’s here too?”

Atem nodded.

“And… I don't believe that the thief is even the cause of this. He just saw an opportunity and took it.” He confessed, as much as he wished that the other Bakura HAD been the cause of this. It would make things more simple, certainly.

“We should call Bakura and make sure he's okay, if the spirit of the ring is back…” Yuugi worried, his brow furrowing. Jounouchi nodded in agreement.

“That's a good idea. Bakura-kun is the most likely place that the thief would head. He's been spending a good deal of time watching him from the afterlife.” The Pharaoh wasn't too terribly worried about Bakura's safety, though. He felt he understood the thief’s feelings when it came to his former host well enough to be certain that no harm would come to Bakura Ryou.

Everyone else was fair game, though.

“Wait… you guys could watch us from the land of the dead? Like, through walls and stuff.” Jounouchi asked, looking a little worried about exactly what kinds of things his friend might have looked in on him doing.

Atem smirked and looked the blonde in the eye. “Don't worry, Jounouchi. I always respect my friend's privacy. All of your secrets are safe with me.”

Yuugi laughed as Jounouchi turned bright red. “Do you have a deep, dark secret, Jou?”

Jounouchi coughed. “Nothing in particular…”

Atem smirked, but graciously changed the direction of the conversation for his friend's benefit. “Regardless of that, most of the time I spent watching was watching you, Aibou. It's been very satisfying to see you living your life so fully.”

It was Yuugi’s turn to blush now, a pout pulling at his lip. “I wouldn't really call my life that interesting, compared to an ancient king. But thanks.”

“Oh come on, Yuugi! Your life's pretty interesting. I mean, you win like, every dueling competition you enter. And Kaiba’s hosted some pretty ridiculous ones in the last couple years.” Jounouchi pointed out, causing his friend to crack a smile.

“Yeah, if he keeps it up we’ll be dueling on the moon before long.”

“I still find it hard to comprehend that people really have walked on the moon. Modern science is fascinating.” Atem cut in, imagining how amazing a tournament on the moon would be. It would certainly honor Khonsu. “You should make that suggestion to Kaiba, Aibou. I would like to see you duel on the moon.”

“I can't believe we're seriously discussing this. Moneybags is so ridiculous!” Jounouchi snorted, before being cut off by his phone vibrating as his alarm went off. Time for class, huh? “Shit, I have to get going. I'll take care of calling Bakura after class though, okay? And I'll check in with you two tonight!”

Yuugi nodded. “Take care, Jounouchi!”

“It was good seeing you again.” Atem agreed, waving as the blonde darted off before looking back to Yuugi. “...You have class today too, right?”

Yuugi shook his head. “I'll take the day off to get you settled back into the land of the living. It's not everyday my dead partner comes back to life, after all.”

Atem cracked a smile. “Very well then. Lead the way?”

Yuugi nodded, heading for home with his other self in tow.

-

It was lunch time at Domino high, and the students of class 1-B were bustling about eagerly, chatting about things they enjoyed and devouring their lunches eagerly.

Iida Chisaki wasn't talking to any of them. She was sitting alone at her desk near the back of the room, gazing out the window with darkened eyes, a book of word puzzles open in front of her.

“Yeah… I'm trying not to worry too much.” She murmured to herself, turning her attention back to her book to resume work on the puzzle she was working on.

Her feathery hair bounced as her head turned, tickling her tanned cheeks. She pouted and blew the soft strands out of her face.

“That's right. You need to ask about loaner gym shorts for last period. Don't put it off too long just because you're embarrassed.” The pencil scratched against the paper as she worked, trying to distract herself from the reality that was looming.

Something was coming.

No.

It was already here.


	4. Resistance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryou refuses to sit back and just let his new houseguest ruin his life all over again, so he goes in search of clues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bakura-centric chapter this time around!!! He’s surprisingly hard to write. I wanted to capture the fact that Ryou really wasn’t a pushover in canon so much as in a position where he was unable to do much... this time around he can do plenty.
> 
> As always, feedback is my fuel to keep writing, so please comment and let me know what you think!!!

Bakura Ryou was surprised to find that his unexpected guest was okay with him heading out to his afternoon classes. But there would be no being held prisoner in his own home, at least for the time being.

Well, realistically the thief probably had plenty of trouble to get into. Best case scenario, the psychotic ex-spirit of the ring would just turn out to be his unwanted roommate, coming home to sleep and eat his food.

That wouldn't be so bad, right?

The thief king had sent Ryou off for the day with a smirk and a shushing motion. He knew what that meant. It was an order not to tell anyone about his new... housing arrangement. And if this had been the old Bakura Ryou- the one who had to actually share his body with the psychopath- it might have worked.

But now Ryou was out of the house and the thief wasn't in his head. They weren't connected anymore. And that got rid of the level of control that the spirit had over him in the past.

If he didn't want to do something he didn't have to do it. He had a choice this time.

But what did he want to do this time? Well, keeping the thief from hurting anyone was high on the list. And while he probably couldn't stop the thief from invading his home, he COULD be sure that everyone knew what was going on.

Did his other self have any powers left without the ring? There, that would probably be a good place to start. Just so he knew what he was up against. And then... He'd probably want to determine how the dark Bakura had returned from death to begin with. And... why? His claims of being bored might have been true, but Ryou didn't buy for a minute that he wanted to keep him company. That just seemed too altruistic for the other Bakura.

Gritting his teeth a little, Ryou climbed off his bus to begin the short walk to the Domino University campus.

Okay... He would tell his friends that the spirit of the ring had returned, and then he would figure out how and why the spirit was back in the first place. That seemed like a good start. Once he’d done that much, he could complete the hardest part of his plan.

He could get rid of the spirit again.

-

As it turned out, Ryou didn’t have to wait long to take care of the first part of his plan. Jounouchi cornered him easily on his way to his first class of the afternoon, pulling him aside with a concerned expression.

“Hey... has anything, uh... weird happened with you today?” Jounouchi wasn't really very good at questioning people without raising suspicion, but it was a moot point anyway.

“Yes. The spirit of the Millennium Ring is back, with his own body. He broke into my house and ate the food I was saving for tonight’s dinner.” The pale boy replied with a tired sigh. “You already knew?”

“Atem- the other Yuugi is back too. Followed him out, or something.” Jounouchi explained, scratching the back of his head. “You gonna be okay, what with him at your place and all?”

Ryou nodded. “It’s not like I've never dealt with his nonsense before. At least this time he can’t hijack my body as he sees fit.”

Jounouchi laughed awkwardly.

“Man, it sucks that you even have to say that in the first place...”

“It’s okay, Jounouchi-kun. I’m a stronger person than I was back then. I’m not just going to sit back and take whatever he throws at me.” Ryou smiled reassuringly at his friend. Jounouchi grinned and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, the Bakura you are now is way less of a pushover than the Bakura you were four years ago!”

Ryou scrunched his face up.

“I wasn’t a pushover. He could take control of my body back then. But now he's in his own body.” The boy pointed out with a pout, Jounouchi laughed.

“Sorry, sorry! Didn’t mean to imply you were a wimp or anything, Bakura!”

“Of course not. You’d never do that.” Bakura teased, a smile crossing his features for the first time that day.

As long as he had his friends he was sure that everything would be okay.

Jounouchi glanced at his watch, and then back to Ryou. “So... what’s the plan, anyway? Do you want to crash at my place while that lunatic is around?”

“Thank’s for the offer, but... I'm not going to let him disrupt my life like that. I mean, if he ends up being unbearable I’ll take you up on it...” Ryou let his sentence trail off.

Jounouchi frowned, but relented.

“If you say so. I’ll let Yuugi and Atem know what’s up. But if he tries anything, we’re here for you.”

“I know.” Ryou nodded. “If anything happens, I’ll call you or Yuugi right away. But don’t you have a lecture to be getting to? I thought the professor told you not to skip any more or he was lowering your grade.”

Jounouchi made a face at that. Yup, Bakura had hit the nail on the head. He did his best to muffle a laugh.

“Ugh, that old bat is going to murder me... Fine, I’ll see you later, Bakura!”

“Bye, Jounouchi-kun!”

As Bakura Ryou watched Jounouchi’s retreating form, things didn’t seem so bad.

-

The former Spirit of the ring had a problem. And that problem was that he was undeniably, insufferably BORED. Now that he had made it back to the land of the living and responded to his innate desire to reunite himself with his former host... he had no idea what to do with himself.

Well, he hadn’t really thought he’d find a way to return to life in the first place, so it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t really have a plan for what to do upon returning.

He let out a little growl and slammed his finger down harder than necessary on the channel change button of the television remote, flipping through the stations with little interest. It was all the same old crap. Nothing was ever interesting on daytime TV.

He finally settled on a daytime news show. It was better than nothing- the anchor’s talking would drown out the silence, at least. Even if they were just talking about how hot it was outside.

“So what do I do now that the grudge I held for three millennia has been put to rest...?” He muttered aloud, as if anyone would answer him. But he was alone in this form’s head, so Ryou didn’t reply. “I still hate the Pharaoh... should I just focus on getting rid of him?”

But that would only be a temporary amusement. Hell, he could have just taken care of it this morning. Plus... painful as it was to admit, he didn’t really feel that much blinding rage towards the pitiful former king. Burning hatred, but... not enough to merit going out of his way to kill him.

He’d already DONE that.

So what else did he have to occupy his time with? Looking into how all this had happened, maybe? That creepy man he’d met earlier was definitely up to something. Any spell that could pull someone back from the dead was powerful stuff, after all. So should he look into that? Whatever goal he was looking to accomplish was bound to be fairly rewarding.

The thief’s stomach growled, derailing his thoughts. Ugh, why the hell didn’t his house have more food in his kitchen!? MEATY food, not that green vegetable junk.

Well, at least that settled what he’d be doing this afternoon. Time to go grocery ‘shopping’. And while he was at it he could pick up some clothes that wouldn’t make him look like a nerd. He definitely wasn’t a fan of the kinds of clothes his host seemed to find attractive.

With that settled the thief got up to head out.

He didn’t bother to turn the TV off.

-

When Bakura’s last class let out it was only three in the afternoon- plenty of time left to get started on his mission of determining how and why the thief (and Atem, apparently) had returned to life. And he knew just where to start.

The museum.

When it came to ancient spirits and magic, the museum was quite honestly always the place to begin. And it made sense- his father had mentioned that there was a new exhibit set to open in a matter of days. That, paired with the thief showing back up out of the blue, seemed like too much of a coincidence to ignore.

And so it was time to put his connections as the son of the museum’s owner to good use. Gaining access the new exhibits shouldn’t be too hard. His status as a history student would give him a good cover story, too.

Ryou sent a text message to Jounouchi and Yuugi, informing them that he was going to look for clues at the museum and would be in contact later, and then he headed off. He didn’t have to go far, thankfully. The museum was in the same district as the university.

He greeted the women behind the counter as he arrives, smiling shyly in response to the fact that the recognized him. It wasn’t as if he visited his father’s workplace all that often, but apparently he was memorable? It had been like that back in high school, too, with girls fawning over him despite the fact that he hadn’t done anything to deserve attention over. It was embarrassing, but it would be rude to be anything less than polite about the attention.

Ryou was able to excuse himself to the museum hallways soon enough, anyway.

He followed the maze of hallways to the roped off door of the upcoming exhibit, hesitating for just a moment before slipping inside of the room as if he belonged there. That was one of the useful things he learned from sharing a body with the thief- if you act like you belong somewhere, even if you don’t, people often won’t even question you being there.

It worked. None of the people (interns?) hard at work setting up the various relics even glanced at him. It was kind of unsettling, really. He should speak to his father about improving security in the museum, next time he saw him.

Whenever that would be.

Ryou shook off the negative thoughts and started through the room, taking careful inventory of the kinds of things they had on display. He... wasn’t actually sure what kinds of artifacts would be considered suspicious, to be honest. Maybe he’d get lucky and there would be a giant stone tablet with pictures of the thief king returning to life on it. That would be useful.

There was nothing like that here, though. Most of the relics in the hall seemed to be funerary relics, actually. From a royal tomb? Ryou had to suppress the urge to laugh as he imagined his other self’s commentary on how tomb robbing was considered an act of historical merit now.

He paused and looked at a golden sarcophagus... yeah, definitely a royal tomb? Maybe a queen?

“It’s lovely, isn’t it? I still remember how surprised I was when I found the tomb undisturbed!” A loud voice cut in from over Ryou’s left shoulder, and he jumped and spun to see who it was that had noticed he didn’t belong in here.

An unassuming man, slightly older than middle aged but not yet elderly, smiled back at him.

“Don’t look so scared. I’m not going to chase away a young man who’s interested in history!” The man chuckled and held a hand out for Ryou to shake. “I’m Professor Iida Takuya, by the way. This is my exhibit. Dug it all up myself!”

“...Bakura Ryou. My father runs the museum.” Bakura replied, hesitantly shaking the man’s hand. He seemed... passionate about his work?

“Ryou-kun, is it!? Nice to meet you, nice to meet you! I didn’t know that Bakura-san had a son! And one so interested in history! How wonderful!” Iida Takuya mused, clearly pleased to have someone to talk about his exhibit with. “I’m jealous. My daughters don’t like discussing Egypt with me. They say I’m overbearing and boring!”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s not the case at all. You seem like a very... energetic man. I’m sure your talks on Egypt are fascinating.” Ryou forced an awkward smile. At least he wasn’t being chased out of the exhibit, but this was... an odd experience. Iida-sensei certainly was quite overbearing. Perhaps he spent a lot of time overseas?

“What a polite boy. How old are you? I should introduce you to my oldest daughter! She could use some polite friends!” 

The smile on Ryou’s face became more strained. “I see... I’d be more interested in hearing about this exhibit, really...”

That seemed to do the trick. The rambunctious professor was thankfully able to focus when asked about his life’s work. He immediately began leading Ryou around the room, going into his spiel on the history of the artifacts as he did so.

“Most of these came from the tomb of an Egyptian princess from the eighteenth dynasty. We found her tomb entirely intact, which I’m sure you know is a rare occurrence.” The professor stopped in front of what appeared to be some kind of golden book, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “...There were signs that some of the items in there were added some time after her death, however. Perhaps the tomb was being used as a place to stash hidden treasures?”

Ryou stared at the golden cover of the book blankly, before looking back to the man guiding him. “Someone broke into the tomb and didn’t disturb anything? They just left more treasures?”

“Unusual, right? But what better hiding place than a tomb that everyone has forgotten?” The man resumed walking, leading Ryou to a display of various stone slabs taken from the walls of the tomb. “...Poor, forgotten girl. She must have been lonely.”

Ryou made a thoughtful sound. “...Maybe she was enjoying the quiet.”

The professor let out a hearty laugh. “I think that thousands of years of silence would be too much for even the most embittered of individuals, but that is an optimistic outlook. I like you, Ryou-kun! I have a dinner to get to, but please come back and talk to me again any time!”

Ryou glanced over the piles of artifacts. “I’ll be sure to, Iida-sensei.”

He still hadn’t been able to narrow down any items of interest, so returning was inevitable. Besides, Professor Iida seemed to know his stuff. If he went over the objects here one by one with the man maybe he could determine which ones had suspicious dead-reviving powers.

For the moment the museum was the only lead Bakura Ryou had. And so returning was unavoidable.

-

Ryou stopped to get himself some fast food for dinner before finally heading home, wanting to postpone seeing the thief again for as long as possible. But eventually there was no avoiding it any longer, and the young man had no reasonable course of action left except to return to his apartment.

He was relieved to find that the thief seemed to be elsewhere as he stepped into the entryway- the television was on full blast and there were a slew of unidentified wallets spread out on his counter, but his guest was nowhere in sight.

Maybe- hopefully- he'd gone out for the night.

A bucket holding the remains of a fried chicken feast was discarded on the dining room floor. On the table was a paper plate with a chicken breast and drumstick on it- the only uneaten of the meal left. Was that supposed to be for him? Bakura sighed and turned off the TV before moving to clean up the mess the ancient spirit had left in his living space.

When he was done, he covered the remaining plate with some plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for when his houseguest inevitably got hungry again.

Well, at least his house wasn't a mess now. Although he was sure that by the end of tomorrow it would be a mess again.

Ryou stepped into his bedroom, eager to rest while he could.

It turned out that was an unreasonable request, because his bed was already occupied. There was the missing thief king, snoring happily in his bed. Ryou winced.

Well, at least he had a comfortable couch.


End file.
